In the run-up to election, denounces Duckworth, "the denial of the freedom of expression and association has become more apparent. The authorities have used force to scatter opposition protesters" and "the police disturbed the work of journalists and human-rights activists". In the country, the TVs and many other mass media are controlled by the state, and the Ekho Moskvy radio station, informs Amnesty, "has been forced to hand over the transcriptions of its programs to the Public Prosecutor’s office as part of the preliminary investigations following the charge of having spread extremist ideas". In addition, Amnesty International is concerned about the state of stagnation in which the investigations on the instigators of the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya are, and about the 2006 Act on NGOs, which, "with its exhausting legislation on the reporting of activities, is just one of the legal tools established to fight" those organisations that "are regarded as a threat against the state authority". They include Golos (Voice), which is fighting for regular elections and for the training of electoral observers and which is engaged in a legal battle to prevent its Samara section closing down.
